Horry County is about to open its newest industrial park. Here’s why you should care.
In a matter of weeks, Horry County officials have said, the county’s newest industrial park — an industrial-sized marina in Bucksport — is set to win its final approvals.
That means boat-building companies and other marine-based industries could set up shop there in the coming years.
But why should you care about these industrial parks?
In short, they’re Horry County’s primary tool to diversify the local economy, something the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation lists as one of its primary goals.
Since the mid-20th century, tourism has been the primary industry in Myrtle Beach and in Horry County.
A second industry, construction and real estate, began growing in earnest in the 1980s and 1990s as more and more people moved to the area.
But few jobs exist in the area outside of those two industries, which causes young people growing up here to leave after high school or college. U.S. Rep. Tom Rice and other local politicians have called that a big problem that they’re working to fix.
Interstate 73, for example, has been imagined as one way the Grand Strand might diversify its economy.
In the meantime, Horry County has pursued industrial parks. The Myrtle Beach International Technology and Aerospace Park, in the Market Commons area, is one example. The Cool Springs Business Park in Aynor is another such park, as is the Ascott Valley park.
But, as Sandy Davis, the head of the Economic Development Corporation, said in a recent interview, getting companies to set up shop in those parks can be challenging.
It took several years, for example, for companies to begin opening operations at the Ascott Valley Park.
And it was a similar case for the ITAP, which recently landed its first tenant in DC BLOX.
The Cool Springs Business Park, too, has struggled to add new tenants aside from firearm manufacturer PTR Industries.
To help lure companies to the industrial parks, Davis said, her agency is able to offer tax breaks to companies. The state offers several tax incentives, including cash incentives, that Davis’ agency is sometimes able to match. Tax breaks, rather than cash incentives, though, are the agency’s biggest tool, Davis said.
In recent years, Davis explained that the COVID-19 pandemic was partially to blame for the slow progress at the parks, including delays at the Bucksport marine industrial park.
She also said recently that landing the first tenants at an industrial park can be a challenge. When DC BLOX announced last month it would locate at the ITAP, Davis was thrilled.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I didn’t know if we’d ever see this day.”
